Automatic fire-extinguisher.



N0. 824,128.' V 'TATNNTND JUNE 26; 1906.

II. w; MARTIN.

AUTOMATIC TINT TXTINGUISHTR.'

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 3,'1904.

@ T/IM /0' @mm1/'- io l connection f nan, in

Uni

i sfrA ns PATENT onirica HERMAN W. MARTIN or iLioN', NEW YORK.

AUTQMATlC FlFlEMEXTlNGUlSHER.

`To all whom -L't may concern: Be it known that l1, HERMAN guishers,

. #This invention relates' to improvements in whichare held in place by Jusible detents,

l' cold climates it is customary during the winter season to displace the water from the air to prevent freezing oi the water in the pipes, which would prevent the successy the system in case of nre, and held `hack solely vby the `airl that if'anyone oi-the s rinkler-headsis released-- by the melting ci its fusible detent-the air-pressureis at once reduced to atmosphere and permits the immediate-now he system and out through.

' Jnil operationv oi .lso

\. as the water is 2,5 lstoppersoi' the system by pressure .it is apparent as', for instance,

of water through the open sprinkler. head or'heads. r

lt sometimes happens that the air-'pressure in the system is insucient to displace the andas this condition time duringi'reezing weather it is desirable to provide some the proprietor orl owner of which the system is installedv may seeat a glance whether or not water is present in the pipes, and for this purpose one of the sprinkler-heads may be located in water from the system, is liable to exist at any means whereby the building in `some conspicuous the proprietors o of'glass', so that the proprietor or other interested' person may readily see the water if present in the system.

One ofthe obiects, therefore,

per, so as to leave a considerablev part tubeex osed to view.

' 'yielding cushionbetween Anot er object is to l Specification of Letters Patent. Application Bled November 3,1904. Serial No. 231,284.

W.M.Anrnv, of the county ofi-lerkimer, in the State of New York, have invented new and- 'useful Improvements in Automatic Fire-Extino which theiollowing',taken in con- `necti'onwith the accompanying drawings, 1s -a iull, clear, and exact description.

lace-as, for instance, in, l 'ce-and each head is pro- Y I vided with a transparent sight-tube, usually is to provide each water-disc arge passagev with a glass sight-tube which is/capped by asuitable stolpo' t e interpose a spring or the stopper and adlPatented June 26, 190B.

jacent end of the sight-tube, whereby when theuse is melted the stopper isautomatically forced from its seat.

4following descrptiongr 4 an automatic rire-extinguisher embodying tional-'view taken on line'2 2, Fig. 1..4 is a sectional view similar to Eig, 1 with the sight-tube, stopper, and its detent removed. Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse sectional view through the stopper. Fig. 5 is* an inverted plan of Fig. 6 is a si spreader-plate.' Figs. 7 and 8 are perspective views, respectively, of lthe upper' and lower detent-plates. Figs.

-are perspective views of the stopper land other parts seen in Fig. 4. Figs. 13 and 14 are perspective-views, respectively, of' the washer. l

This automatic nre-extinguisher consists, essentially, wemily-convergingl arms 2,- which are lJoined together at the top and'by a suitable hub 3 thebase 1 being rovided with a central water-passage 4 an an annularshoulder 5 near its upper end, upon Whchis seated a dishshape washer 6.

A transparent glass sight-tube 7 has one end inserted in the upper end of the passage 4 upon'the metallic seat 6, while its upper end is exposed above the tubular head, so as l, to enable an attendant to observe at a glance l whether or not water is present in the system. The opposite ends ci the sight-tube 7 are ground slightly conical, so as to form smooth l and even seats `to prevent any liability of leakage. Seated Xuponthe upper end of the sight-tube 7 is va soft-metal Washer or packingring 8, and against the outervr'ace of this ring is placed an imperforate metal diskQ, the washer 8 having a central opening- 10 4 of slightly less diameter than the interior diameter oi the sight-tube 7. Upon the outer Jface of the disk 9 is mounted yan inverted dishshaped washer 11 of spring metal, having its convex side u perinost and its edges resting upon the top ace oi the disk 9.` An imperthe outer convex face oi the washer `11 and is In the drawings, Figure lisan elevation oi the Jfeatures of my invention. Fig. 2/is a-sec- Fig. 3g

the detached spreader-plate lar plan of a modiiied form oi 'of atubularbase 1, havingup- Other objects andusesp-.will appear4 in the` 9, io, i1, and i2 detachedsight-tube and its v metal seat or ico @reisadvies depending @message forate cap or stopper section 12 is fitted upon aia 824,128

which inclcses the 'parts 8, 9, and 11., such parts, together with the cap 12, constituting the stopper.

I usuall f providev the outer face of the stopper-cap 12 with a transverse groove 14,

in which is seated one end of a i'lat metal detent-plate 15, having a biiurcated upper end for forming .a vertical slot 1.6 and opposite arms 17 A second detent-plate 18 is lapped upon one face of the plate 5 and is secured thereto b suitable fusible material, as soft solder, ich is racticaily .concealed between the contiguous faces of the plates and 18. Fortions of the piate 18 are .pressed I 5 or stamped laterally to forni lengthwise reinforcing-ribslQ and 2() and recesses 21 and 22,

the rib 19 meshing with the groove or slot 16 in ,the plate 15 to reinforce the completed detent against laterai strains. 20 The' upper end of the plate 18 is oifset laterally to form an abutment 22', having a concave seat 23'for receiving the inner end of an adjusting-screw 24. This adjusting-screw is rnounjtefl in a threaded aperture 25 in the hub 2 5 3, and as the seat 23 is at one side of the plane of the contiguous faces of the plates 15 and 18 it is evident that the pressure of the screw 2li against said seat 23 tends sli htly to separatethe plates 15 and 1S but t4 is is oiiset te 3o a certain extent by the engagement oi the upper ends ot the arms 17 with suitable shoulders 26, runningl transversely of the plate 1S, although as soon as the fusible bond which connects the plates 15 and 18 together is melted said platesy tend to separate from each other to release the stopper. T his separation is augmented by the upward pressure olf" the yielding spring-washer 11, which when in operative position is compressed by anadi 4o justifient ci the screw 24, so that as soon as the lfusible bond is destroyed the springwasher 11 forces the cap 12 upwardly, and thereby reduces the liability of the lstopper sticking to its seat.

The washers 6 and 8 are rei'erably niade oi soft non-corrodible metal), such as tin or equivalent material, and not only serveto prevent abrasion of the glass tube when thc arts are adjusted to` their operative osition 5o I y the screw 211, but also reduce the iability o the `glass tube becoming set or stuck to its seat.` The metal disk 9 is preferably made of non-corrodible spring-metal, such as German silver or equivalent material, and has a bearing upon a central boss 28 on the inner face of the ca 12', so that both the washer 11 and' disk 9 I ave a spring action upon the stopper` independently of the Water-pressure.

. Secured to the outer end of the hub 3 is an 6o inverted-dish shaped spreader-plate 29, having portions oi;- its marginal edges pressed inwardly fior form ng slots or` recesses 30 and concentric rows of wings 31 and 32, the alternating slpts 30 being of different depths or 6 5 lengthsto cause the escaping water to spread vfor any reason should not instantly be displaced by the outiiowing water when the stopper is released it 13o in all directions, the wings 31 and 32 serving' also to deiiect thewater downwardly and laterally and to split it up twice as much as a single set.

ln Fig. 6 l have shown a modified form of' spreader-plate consisting of two separate disks and 34, the disk 34 being of less diameterand arranged centrallywithin the disk 33; but both of these disks are formed with inwardly-preiecting concentric rows of wings 35 and 36, w iich are slotted radially for the purpose of aiiording a wider distribution of the escaping water, The fusible solder, as a, which binds the contiguous face sof the plates 15 and 18 together, isf practically concealed from view, except the 'extremely thin portions which appear at the edges between thc plates and also what ap ears through the recess 16 and at the shoulJder 26.

1t will be seen upon reference to Fig. 1 that S5 the greater portion of the fusible solder is exposed in the recess 16 and at said shoulder 26 at the top ofthe plate 15, and the heat from any accidental hre around the lire-extinguisher will therefore be more liable to first melt the solder in the recess 16 and at the shoulder 26, thereby breaking the integrity of the detent at the top, and, owing to the fact that the spring-washer 11,y independently of the water-pressure, operates to force 95 the stopper outwardly and that the beariugpoint of the adjusting-screw is at one sido of the contiguous 'h es ot the plates 15 and 18, the plate 15. .di automatically tilt or sepa-- rate from the plate 15 when the fusible material is melted, thereby releasing the stopper so far as the dctent is concerned. There is always more or less liability of the stopper becoming set or stuck to its seat by reason of its long-continued inactivity, and in order to reduce this liability I have provided the stopper with a spring-seat comprising the washer 11 and disk 9, W ich when the fusible bond is. melted operates automatically to force the cap 12 from its seat, and thereby open the Water-passage, this action also serving to dis" place the detent-plates. The datent-sections 15 and 18 may be cast in nickel or none oorrodible metal, and the disk 91 is usually made of German silver, the object being to use as far as possible a non-oorrodible mate- IOO -rial for all of the operating parts. These spring-releasing plates or washers 9 and 11 are ractically concealed within the cap 12 by t. 1e tin or 'soft-metal washer 8, so as to exclude the air, and thereby prolong the life of 4these spring parts,

it being understood that the vibration of a spring exposed to air is v shorter lived than one from which the air is excluded. I have providedA precautionary means to preventthe stopper and sight-tube from sticking to their respective seats; but if the sight-tube 7 or seat 8 'is evident that the outflow 'of the Water will v .tain Whether -ornot the Water is still be permitted through the passage 10.

In' my pending application, Serial No.

213,340, filed June 20, 1904, I have described and claimed a transparentsight-tbe similarI` to that seen in my presv .nt application, the objet of which is' to permit an attendant or proprietor to see at a glance Whether or not Water or sediment is present in the system, it being understood that-at times, 4particularly in Wlnter, the Water is'displaced from the s1ghttubes `the proprietor can readily ascerwholly exeluded Jfrom the system. y

Havingthns described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. In an automatic fire-extin uisher, the combination with a tubular base va'ving a Water-passage, a-transparent, sight-tube seated s stem by air and by the use oftransparent inthe passage, a stopper seated on the sight--l tube including a soft-metal Washei' seating on the sight-tube an imperforate diskl seating 011 said Washera. spring operated to unseat the ing 'a fusible elem stopper, and a de 'et for the stopper includ- Il v 2. 'In a fire-extinguisher, the combination with a base having a Water-passage, a transparent' sight-tube having one end seatedin said passage, a" erforated- Washer seated on the other end of t e sight-tube, an imperforate disk vseated on the Washenfa spring-Washer seated on the disk, a capbearin 'on the spring-Washer and on the center lo lthe imperforate disk, and means including a fusible element for holding the stopper in place.

3. In a tire-extinguisher., of the c1assde` 

